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Committee forwards Bill 12 to council to exempt utility-scale electrical equipment from county electrical code
Summary
The committee voted to forward Bill 12, which would exempt utility-grade electrical distribution equipment from the County Electrical Code, to full council with a favorable recommendation after Department of Public Works officials said they support the measure with clarifications.
The Hawaii County Council Policy Committee voted to forward Bill 12 to the full council with a favorable recommendation. Bill 12 would amend Chapter 5D, Article 1, Sections 5D-13 and 5D-16 of the Hawaii County Code (1983, 2016 edition, as amended) to exempt electrical work performed by an electrical utility on generating plants, substations, distribution mains, service drops and similar utility equipment from the county electrical code.
Councilmember Kimball, who introduced the bill, said the change would align Hawaii County with the other three counties that already have the exemption and would remove permitting and inspection delays the county cannot effectively perform for utility-grade equipment. Joanne Sonomura, Building Chief in the Department of Public Works, told the committee the department supports the bill and clarified its scope: the exemption targets large, utility-grade electrical distribution equipment and substations; the Building Division will continue to review and inspect work normally covered by the county permitting process such as grounding, bonding and connections for associated structures. Sonomura said the exemption does not apply to electrical work inside support buildings or to projects with outstanding building permits.
Councilmember Onishi asked whether utilities already are exempt under Public Utilities Commission (PUC) oversight and about arrangements where private developers contract with the utility (HECO) to build distribution or substation facilities. Sonomura said the department would meet with Onishi to discuss those situations and reiterated that utility-scale, high-voltage equipment is typically outside the county's normal NEC-based review.
The committee recorded an 8–0 favorable recommendation to forward the bill to the council; one member, Connolly Lee Klinefelder, was absent. With the committee's recommendation, the bill moves to full council for further consideration at a future meeting.
Clarifying details provided at the meeting included the exact code sections targeted (Chapter 5D, Article 1, Sections 5D-13 and 5D-16), that the exemption would not apply to electrical systems inside support buildings, and that the Building Division will still inspect aspects of projects within its usual purview.
